It’s official, the most wonderful time of the year has arrived! The city centre has been decorated and the christmas CDs have been dusted off and are entertaining the christmas shoppers.

The festive season is an important time for retail and it takes alot of planning to get our museum gift shops ready. Thankfully we don’t have to put together an advertising campaign that tugs at the heart strings of the nation but we still have to start preparing a year in advance.

While everyone is packing away the tree and starting a New Year detox we have to start thinking about the next Christmas holiday. So that we don’t miss out on the best designs we have to place the orders for calendars and Christmas cards between January and March. Then over the summer months when most people are thinking about what swim wear to take to the beach, the buying manager is browsing through Christmas catalogues, making decisions about which baubles and hanging decorations to buy and looking for unique gift ideas.

There is alot of choice when it comes to Christmas decorations and everyone has a different theme. We try to get a variety of different colour ways and textures into our shops so that there is something for everyone. This year we have classic glass baubles, nostalgic tin decorations and Scandinavian inspired red and white and natural wood decorations including wooden stags and hand carved hearts.

George the penguin at the Lady Lever

My favourite shop to help buy for and merchandise is in the Lady Lever Art Gallery. It’s a beautiful gallery all year round but is especially lovely at this time of year. Everyone who works there gets into the Christmas spirit, putting up decorations, trimming the tree and dressing up George the penguin as Santa Claus!

Buying for the Lady Lever Art Gallery shop is more fun than our other museum shops. As the gallery is located in the middle of Port Sunlight Village the shop is often used as a gift shop, somewhere were visitors can find a nostalgic present or buy a glamourous piece jewellery for a special event, which means we can put in a diverse range of gifts aswell as traditional souvenirs.

There are lots of Christmas events at the gallery this year for adults and children including Midwinter merriment, Santa’s post room, a Christmas Choir and much more. If you are looking for a bit of festive fun and inspiration it’s the ideal place to visit and you can also treat yourself to a delicious lunch from our Christmas menu.

If you would like to see a selection of the gifts and Christmas cards available at the Lady Lever Art Gallery shop then take a look at our new look online shop where you can now shop by venue. You may just find the perfect gift.

Remember, all the money made by the trading company is given to National Museums Liverpool to help fund the great work they do.